Trump meets with big bank CEOs to talk about taking the GSEs public: Bloomberg

President Donald Trump appears to be taking another step to bring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship, according to reporting by Bloomberg on Thursday.

The president has invited the leaders of some of the country’s biggest banks, including JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs Group CEO David Solomon, and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, to one-on-one pitch meetings to discuss the future of the GSEs, the outlet reported.

According to Bloomberg, “Trump is asking the CEOs to offer their ideas on the strategy for taking the organizations public and how their banks might play a role, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.” The outlet said a spokesperson for the White House wasn’t immediately able to comment.

Dimon met with Trump last week and Solomon met with Trump Thursday. Moynihan is scheduled for the coming days, Bloomberg reported, with other bank executive meetings likely in the works.

The Trump administration has often discussed releasing the GSEs from conservatorship, while being careful to say that they want to do it in a safe and sound manner. Soon after his Senate confirmation In March, FHFA Director Bill Pulte tweeted that “Under President Trump’s leadership of the housing market, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have great potential to, safely and soundly, unleash opportunity for more Americans to realize the American Dream.”

Fannie and Freddie were placed in conservatorship in 2008 in response to the global financial crisis to stabilize the mortgage market. While they are publicly traded companies, most of their stock is owned by the federal government. Privatizing the GSEs is a complicated proposition, one that has to solve for the GSEs’ significant regulatory capital shortfall, among other issues. Which is why Trump is taking the temperature of the CEOs of the country’s biggest banks.

In May, Trump posted a message on Truth Social on the topic. “I am giving serious consideration to bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public.” The message also noted: “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing very well, throwing off a lot of CASH, and the time would seem to be right. Stay tuned!”

On Wednesday, Fannie Mae announced its second-quarter earnings, reporting net income of $3.3 billion and a net worth of $101.6 billion. Freddie Mac released its earnings on Thursday, reporting Q2 net income of $2.4 billion and a net worth of $65 billion.